Problems with online petition against embryo freezing ironed out, Speaker says

Problems with the online parliamentary petition against embryo freezing were caused by an upgrade in Google’s Captcha system, Speaker Anġlu Farrugia said.

He was responding to concerns raised on social media over the weekend after people found problems putting down their name on the petition.

In a short declaration at the start of this evening’s parliamentary sitting, Farrugia said the problems were ironed out and by Monday morning more people had accessed the petition.

He said the problems with the petition did not go back weeks but escalated on 18 May when the Google update took place.

The Captcha system is an electronic form that ascertains the user is a human being and not a software programme.

The petition on Parliament’s website asks MPs to ensure that “every embryo is protected and the Embryo Protection Act is not amended”.

It was started on 3 April by a certain Emanuela Cachia.

The petition had 8,586 verified signatures by 6.20pm on Monday.